FHSU Sports Information Department
INDIANAPOLIS – Fort Hays State Wrestling had seven student-athletes named to the D2 Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic Team for the 2016-17 season. As a team, the Tigers ranked eighth nationally with a team GPA of 3.32, while three of the seven individuals earned first team honors.
Jon Inman, Brandon Ball, and Greg Tooley not only were national qualifiers, but they were also among the cream of the crop in the classroom earning first team honors. Inman is now a four-time first team selection, the only other wrestler besides Zeb Wahle of Wisconsin-Parkside to earn that distinction among the 186 total All-Academic selections. He carried a 3.83 GPA as a Justice Studies major, while finishing as the national runner-up at 197 pounds and setting a new school record for career win percentage at .834 (141-28).
Ball and Tooley will have the potential of repeating the same feat as Inman, both earning first team selections in their redshirt-freshman campaign. Ball finished 38-8 overall at 141 pounds, finishing sixth at the NCAA Championships, while owning a 3.72 GPA as a Technology Studies major. Tooley ended his year at 27-6 in the 157-pound class, while carrying a 3.78 GPA as a Biology major. Though he was just shy of All-America honors on the mat, Tooley was the MIAA Champion at his respective weight class. Ball was the MIAA Freshman of the Year.
Earning a second-team selection is redshirt-sophomore Micquille Robinson. He was an All-MIAA performer for the Tigers at 174 pounds, finishing the year at 24-20 overall. A Technology Studies major at FHSU, Robinson owns a 3.56 GPA.
Honorable Mention status went to freshman Conrad Cole, junior Rakim Dean, and senior Jacob Kay. Cole finished his first year with the Tigers 15-21 overall at 125 pounds, while holding a 3.29 GPA as an Accounting major. Dean had a record of 27-16 at 184 pounds, holding a 3.02 GPA as a Health & Human Performance major. Kay wrestled the majority of the season at 149 pounds and compiled a 17-18 record in his final year at FHSU, holding a 3.14 GPA as a Business Finance major. Kay is a three-time honorable mention selection for this award.
The list for the Team GPA is calculated by averaging the cumulative grade point averages of ten wrestlers from each team of which eight of those wrestlers must have competed in their team’s national qualifying tournament. Fort Hays State jumped seven spots on the list to number eight this year after ranking 15th last year. The team GPA improved by 0.14 this year to 3.32 after sitting at 3.18 last year.
University of Indianapolis had the most individuals named to the first team this year, while FHSU was one of three schools tying for second-most first-team selections with three.